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Families of refugee children who drowned last year find strength in others' charity

Children drowned in the Iowa River

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Updated: 9:07 PM CDT May 25, 2013

Families of refugee children who drowned last year find strength in others' charity

Children drowned in the Iowa River

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Updated: 9:07 PM CDT May 25, 2013

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa —

The families of three children who drowned in the Iowa River near Marshalltown last summer are still heartbroken over their loss.

They told KCCI that they are thankful so many Iowans they've never met stepped forward to help them after this devastating experience.

On July 4 last year, dozens of Burmese refugees living in Marshalltown came to the Iowa River to spend the holiday. A group of children was swimming in a wooded stretch of the river when three of them -- a 7-year-old brother, his 9-year-old sister and their 7-year-old female cousin -- disappeared under the water. Their bodies were recovered two hours later.

The two families are among the 800 Burmese refugees who live in Marshalltown and work at the packing plant. Most have no formal education and do not speak English. They wouldn't have been able to afford funerals or headstones if not for the generosity of their local community.

According to EMBARC, a Burmese immigrant advocacy group, more than 300 people, churches, and civic groups donated $15,000 over the past several months. Just last week, headstones for the three children were finally put into place.

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"I think they couldn't even believe there were gravestones at their site. It's not imaginable that all these strangers would donate money for them," said Henny Ohr, EMBARC's executive director.

Koe Reh, father of the brother and sister who drowned, said, "This is very bad thing to happen to you, but the good thing is in America, they care for you and support you."

Sae Reh, father of the 7-year-old girl who drowned, says of the new headstones and outpouring of support, "It's made us feel better. Very different from our own country or the refugee camp. We're very thankful."

That $15,000 donated to the families paid for the headstones, burials and funeral costs, thanks, in part, to discounts given to the families by Mitchell Funeral Home in Marshalltown and Winterset Monument.